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Gojira Drummer Gives Update on 'Sea Shepherd' EP

Gojira drummer Mario Duplantier recently spoke with Australia's Loud Magazine about the band's upcoming Sea Shepherd EP, which still has no firm release date. The drummer explains that the long delay has a lot to do with the fact that each track is scheduled to feature guest vocalists.

"The music is ready, but we're waiting on [a] vocalist.," Duplantier said. "We want to release it as soon as possible, maybe August or September. When you ask to put singers on the record, it makes it difficult. If it's just Joe [Duplantier; guitar/vocals] on voice, that makes it easier, but it's not easy . . . The music has been ready for six months, but the people who accepted to be part of the project had a lot of scheduling conflicts. Each song has different vocalists; it will be four very different songs. It's not an album, so we decided to have fun. One is very fast, one is very slow, one has a very rock vibe — it's very different to the album."

One song from the EP has already surfaced online, a track called "Of Blood and Salt" that features none other than Devin Townsend and Meshuggah's Fredrik Thordendal. You can hear the track below.

On working with Devin Townsend, Duplantier said: "We decided to invite him because we've known him since a long time, when we shared a stage in 2006. We were big fans of Strapping Young Lady, we're amazed by his work. He told us he had a lot of respect [for] and loved our music as well. We wanted to share something and when Joe decided to make the project, Devin was the first guy we decided to contact. He agreed to participate as he was a big fan of Gojira, but he was also a big fan of the project."

The EP is also slated to feature Randy Blythe of Lamb of God, Anders Fridén of In Flames and Max Cavalera.

Proceeds from sales of the EP will benefit Sea Shepherd, an anti-whaling organization.

Gojira are also currently working on the follow-up to 2008's The Way of All Flesh. The band are currently without a label home but one can only assume there is considerable interest from several labels.